Representations of Humans, Climate Change, and Environmental Degradation in School Textbooks in Ghana and Malawi

Abstract

Youth in sub-Saharan Africa are extremely vulnerable to the negative consequences of climate change and environmental degradation. The interest in education for sustainable development (ESD) to support African youth in learning about and adapting to climate change is growing in response. This study examines the messages about human-earth relationships, environmental change, and responsibilities for mitigation that are presented in official grade 8 Ghana and Malawi textbooks. Utilizing a political ecology framework, it shows that the curricula normalize an anthropocentric earth view that disappears global power dynamic, neglects widespread commodification of scarce resources, fails to question the developmentalist dream of endless growth, and translates local ecological contexts into universal commodities. We discuss the need to develop educational theories and practices that account for the complexity and deep contextuality of human-earth relationship if we hope to help students around the world envision alternative ways more likely to ensure species survival.